A clammy, sniffling toddler in the Washington, D.C. park near my house would have looked and sounded pretty normal — back in January 2020. But now, folks were giving the maskless toddler and her parents a wide berth as the two had an animated argument about their community’s right to know about those sniffles. Did they really...

I spent 17 years teaching immigrant, refugee, and asylum-seeking high school students from around the world in my hometown of Modesto. Though all too often it was violence, suffering, and war that brought them here, the joy and promise that radiated from my students spoke to the optimism and hope of the American Dream. In...

Recent polling confirms that over the last year American parents have been worried about a lot, overwhelmed by online learning and fearful their children are falling behind. It seems Republicans channeled these emotions in Virginia and New Jersey in November’s elections, as polls show education mattered for many voters — the second most important issue in...

The night before school started, my son turned to me with his big eyes and his gap-toothed smile. Matter-of-factly, he stated: “Pretty sure I won’t like school this year.” The next night, he sighed: “Well, it wasn’t as bad as I thought.” He’s a tough critic — this was huge.  A week later, he said:...

As with all aspects of our education system, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated and widened inequities in postsecondary pathways, especially for the most underserved students. According to recent data, undergraduate college enrollment rates declined by nearly 5 percent since last year across all types of postsecondary institutions. Community colleges took the brunt of this decline, with a...

Early on, it seemed mentoring could be another casualty of the pandemic, the developmental relationships so many young people depended on for guidance and stability dissipating right when they were needed most. The COVID-19 crisis not only had the potential to disrupt learning, it threatened the ability to develop, maintain and grow networks of support...

A story is told about a flood that rose so quickly, a man had to go to the second floor of his home, where he prayed for God to save him. Before long, a neighbor came by in a canoe and yelled to the homeowner, “Come on in. I’ll get you out of here.” The...

Last fall, seven school districts and eight tutoring providers came together in a virtual summit run by the Harvard University Center for Education Policy Research. The goal was to see if representatives of two sides of the education market could agree on a radical new contract, one in which schools would pay providers for outcomes...

Anyone who cares about kids must rejoice over their being back in school with their peers. But that should not blind us to the harsh truths we have learned about our public education system, how badly it responded to the pandemic and how, as always, it served those with loud voices and political power and...

For all the ways that schools and educators have changed since the pandemic, this may be the longest lasting: Teachers have a greater understanding of, and appreciation for, education technology. Allison Shelley for EDUimagesBefore COVID-19 shuttered the schools, it was not uncommon to hear teachers say they just don’t do technology. In Alexandria City Public...